Video: watch the moment drug dealer was caught with £32k of crack cocaine in his car

Victoria West

Two members of a drugs gang who supplied cocaine and heroin across Bedfordshire, London and surrounding counties have been jailed for a total of more than 16 years.

Head of the conspiracy Marvin Douglas, 33, was caught with crack cocaine with a street value of up to £32,000 and £20,000 in cash when his car was stopped by police on the A1 on September 23, last year.

Douglas had tried to break free from the police, but was caught when he rammed into two force vehicles, flipping his Volkswagen Scirocco onto its roof.

At the time of his arrest he was on licence for a sentence of being concerned in the supply of cocaine dating back to 2010.

His co-defendant in that case, Lee Dixon, 31, was also involved in the latest conspiracy. He was caught with cash and cocaine when he was arrested at his home in Williamson Road, Kempston, on October 15 last year.

Dixon and Douglas had been linked through forensics and phone records to Robert Willoughby, 45, who was arrested at a drugs ‘safe house’ in Harlinger Street, Woolwich, on March 5, last year. Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) seized a substantial amount of importation-purity cocaine and £19,740 during that arrest. Willoughby was subsequently jailed for 14 years as a result of the NCA investigation.

Jailed: Marvin Douglas.

Forensics also linked the men with Kimberley Oyewole, 35, who was arrested at an address in Bethwin Road, London, on November 20. Officers discovered cocaine and heroin with a street value of more than £3,000 and £4,835 cash.

Douglas of Hidcote Drive, Milton Keynes, Dixon of Williamson Road, Kempston, and Oyewole of Wyndham Road, Southwark, London, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine between February 1, 2014 and November 21, 2014. Douglas also pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property and dangerous driving.

During the course of the investigation Douglas also pleaded guilty to a further conspiracy involving a criminal gang from Northamptonshire investigated by East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

On September 8, last year, Bedfordshire Police intercepted 1kg of heroin being couriered by Caroline Brown, 37, of Flitwick, Bedfordshire, on behalf of Douglas.

Jailed: Lee Dixon.

Those drugs were destined to be delivered to the Northamptonshire gang.

Douglas pleaded guilty with Brown and others and was sentenced for both matters at St Albans Crown Court.

The rest of the gang were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court last month.

Today (Friday) at St Albans Crown Court, Douglas was sentenced to a total of nine years and nine months, while Dixon was jailed for six and a half years.

Oyewole will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Insp Paul Baron, from Bedfordshire Police’s serious and organised crime Uuit, said: “Douglas is a prolific drug dealer who has persistently continued his criminality despite being previously arrested and even jailed.

“This was a complex investigation and we have worked closely with other police forces and the NCA to prove the conspiracy between these individuals.

“These people were involved in the supply and distribution of a large amount of class A drugs which blights communities and brings a range of associated crime.

“We will continue to target, disrupt those involved in this type of crime to protect our communities and bring offenders to justice.”